Marly Olson

Mary A. Olson, age 96, of Pompton Plains, passed away on Friday, June 14, 2019.

Mary was born in 1923 in Garfield at the family home of Salvatore and Rose Grecco. She joined her older brother Charles, and sister Tillie. Ten years later, her younger brother James was born. Although Mary often spoke of hardships, she enjoyed school and singing. A favorite memory of hers was singing Cole Porter’s jazz standard “Begin the Beguine.” The lyrics to that song reveal many of the things Mary loved best – hearing the sound of music played by an orchestra, being down the shore, seeing the palms swaying, dancing under the stars, and finding a romance and a love that would live forever.

Years passed and Mary graduated from Garfield High School in 1941. She continued her education in New York City at a business school where she learned how to operate a comptometer. Those skills were put to use in her job at Ford Motor Company in Teterboro. While working at Ford, she met William Van Kruiningen. They fell in love and were married on November 13, 1948. After traveling by train and honeymooning in Florida, they began life together in an apartment in Hackensack and soon purchased property and built their home at 401 Simons Avenue in Hackensack. Their marriage was blessed with two children, Kathy who was born in 1950 and Karen born in 1955. Life was busy and happy. Mary was the stereotypical 1950’s homemaker – cooking, cleaning, and taking care of her children and husband. She liked setting a pretty table with flowers and candles and abundant food. She was an excellent cook and baker. Mary always wanted her environment to be filled with things she liked. Things like a delft vase, an impressionistic painting, a lace tablecloth, and traditional holiday and seasonal decorations.

Unfortunately, this happy time was short lived. When the girls were just thirteen and seven, Mary’s husband William had a heart attack and passed away in April, 1963. Now the songs Mary sang were of loss and sadness. However, as a widowed mother, she used her skills again as a comptometer operator to work from home. She worked on accounts and inventory for Ford Motor Company. After about four years, Mary applied for and got a job with the Hackensack Board of Education where she was in charge of payroll and health benefits for all the school system’s employees. While working, Mary watched her daughters grow, attend college, and find rewarding jobs. Mary loved her many years of working in Hackensack and did not retire until she was seventy-nine years old.

Mary’s life changed again when she married Walter J. Olson, Sr. on January 25, 1975. She moved to Packanack Lake in Wayne and they lived at 21 Sunset Terrace. While living in Packanack, Mary enjoyed playing golf at the Packanack Golf Club and bowling with her friends. She and Walter participated in many golf outing and trips with other couples, and traveled to Europe, California, Florida, and numerous other destinations. During this part of her life, Mary also saw her two daughters find wonderful husbands, and she became a grandmother when Andrea Gonnella was born in 1987 and when Christine Gonnella was born in 1991. After 26 years of marriage, Walter passed away and Mary continued to live in their home in Packanack Lake until moving to Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains in 2013.

Mary was blessed with the gift of a long and healthy life. In her elder years she liked the music of the Boston Pops, especially patriotic music such as “Strike up the Band” and “Stars and Stripes Forever.” She also said she enjoyed watching a great parade. So at the end of her life, we hope that she will again hear the words of “Begin the Beguine” which ends with the line: “And we suddenly know what heaven we’re in when they begin the beguine.” Her family hopes she relives the happier times, the heaven on earth moments. The parade is now over, but hopefully Mary still hears the band playing her tunes.

Mary was the loving wife of the late William Van Kruiningen (1963) and the late Walter J. Olson, Sr. (2002); devoted mother of Kathy Rohr and her husband William of Pompton Plains and Karen Gonnella and her husband Michael of Wayne; she was the cherished grandmother of Andrea Gonnella-Chiarello and her husband Brent of Plainview, Long Island, New York and Christine Gonnella-Moran and her husband Ryan of Northvale; she was the much loved sister of the late Charles Grecco, the late Tilly Peraino, and James Grecco of Randolph.